If there is to be a new coach next season and Gillis is trying to decide between buying out Booth or Ballard, who would you want Gillis to keep? Both players are signed for two more years with almost an identical cap hit (Booth's is $250K more). Booth will turn 29, while Ballard will turn 31. Prior to playing under AV, Booth was a top 6 winger who averaged about 22-23 goals and about 40 points, while Ballard was a top 4 defenseman who averaged about 6+ goals and about 30 points. Booth is injury prone and probably shouldn't be expected to play much more than 70+ games while Ballard has been relatively healthy for a defenseman. In terms of how the two fit in the Canucks' salary structure (trades and acquisitions notwithstanding), Booth will be the Canucks' 5th highest paid forward, while Ballard will be the Canucks 5th highest paid defenseman.

Case for keeping Booth:In Booth's first season here, he put up 16 goals and 29 points (albeit most of them prior to his knee injury). This means that Booth has managed to average 20+ goals and about 40 points over 82 games for quite a few coaches now. Booth is a fast skater who consistently takes the puck to the net. He has some gamebreaking skills (he once scored 31 goals and he had a stretch of 5 goals in 12 games with the Canucks). If Booth stays healthy, keeps driving to the net, and puts up closer to 30 goals than 20 goals, that kind of production out of Booth's style of play is hard to find and we see teams pay a lot for that style of play and type of production Booth has averaged over a full season.

Case for keeping Ballard:Despite his flaws, Ballard is clearly a better defenseman than what AV makes him out to be. The reality is that Ballard has been solid defensively the past two years and is no where near being a healthy scratch based on his talent and play alone. There's every evidence to suggest that Ballard can still play 20+ minutes a night on a team without so many quality left side defensemen as the Canucks. But even if we leave the pairings as is, Ballard has shown chemistry with Tanev and having an overpaid but underachieving bottom pairing defenseman is generally more desirable than having an overpaid but underachieving 2nd-3rd line winger.

My OpinionMy opinion is to keep Booth. Booth is overpaid, can disappear for stretches, and can't seem to stay healthy, but he brings an element that the Canucks lack. Booth does play a powerforward game and has the ability to manufacture offense outside of the cycle. He has the ability to move laterally with the puck to find space to shoot the puck. When the play slows down in the opposition's zone he is always around the net looking for tips and looking for opportunities to jam the puck into the net. His goals are rarely of the fancy variety but goals he worked hard for or got himself into a great scoring position. I think the closest guy to bringing what Booth brings is Jensen. And unless Jensen blossoms into a 20 goal scorer, the Canucks have little depth when it comes to top 9 forwards, especially guys with 25+ goal upside. While I think Ballard is a top 4 NHL defenseman in the NHL, he is mistake prone (the Canucks have lots already) and his role can be adequately filled by someone else in the 16-18 minutes that 5th defenseman typically play. Those are my thoughts. What do you guys think?

Ballard became redundant when we signed Hamhuis. At that time, most expected Bieksa to be traded. I was hoping Ballard would have the "Bieksa bounce-back" last season. Didn't happen. Now we also have Garrison. Tanev and Corrado appear to be coming up nicely. We have guys that can put the puck in the net from the back end, so I think Ballard is the one to go. With the cap going down, we simply cannot afford a $4+M guy on the bottom pairing or in the pressbox.

Booth has had a helluva time here. He can't stay healthy and his production has suffered because of it. He was a good pickup that hasn't worked out. I'd like to see what Gillis can get in the trade market before compliance buyout time, but it might be better to hit the reset button with Booth vs. hoping he bounces back @ that cap hit. We NEED a productive second line.

If I had to keep one, I'd keep Booth. But I think chances are they will both be bought out via compliance buyout.

I have to admit that keeping either one doesn't seem likely at this point. If you keep Booth you have to find a different center as he and Kesler are definitely are not a match. Neither of them pass the puck. If Ballard was kept you have a D who can play in this league but you have to dump AV as he won't play him. If I was to pick one... I'd keep Ballard at least he isn't injury prone.

Depends on the new coach coming in . I still think both guys are decent NHL players but for various reasons both have struggled in Vancouver. Booth could be a guy who could gel with Jordan Schroeder. I agree he and Kesler looked the shits together and it isn't a good match.

I don't think Aquilini will be pleased having to eat both contracts so barring a trade they may have to keep one of them. I would probably keep Ballard myself as I think he is a better teammate. That said I hope neither of them are here next season.

The coach as Blob said. Another issue is the rest of the roster. If Edler is dealt and there doesn't look to be another lefty defenseman capable of playing 16-18 minutes do you keep Ballard?

On the flip side if we still have Edler, Hamhuis and Garrison next year does anyone really want to watch one of them (or Ballard) struggle on their off side again?

I'd lean towards keeping Booth both because there's more likely to be a roster spot for him and because IMO he has been disappointing to from a health standpoint - when healthy he's looked like an effective player which you can't really say for KB4. If there's reason to believe he can put those injury troubles behind him then I can see why it'd be sensible to keep him around.

Both players have been disappointing though and I'd rather the team try move on from both of them.

Depends on other moves - if you trade a guy like Edler or another dman for a forward then you keep Ballard and Booth is gone. If you're able to get another physical winger who is better than Booth then you might keep Ballard but Booth is gone. If you keep the D as is then Ballard is gone.

If you're able to get an upgrade at forward and one at D as well then both are gone. If it's me I probably get rid of both, this team needs some fresh blood. For a good team to flame out badly two years In a row there are obviously changes required.